DRAM industry to see growth in 2013: research firm

The dynamic random access memory (DRAM) industry is expected to achieve growth in 2013 as prices stabilize, said market research firm DRAMeXchange yesterday.

According to the firm, due to a severe oversupply, last year the average sale price of the 1 GB DRAM chip fell nearly 50 percent, causing a drop of the overall global DRAM production value by 24.6 percent to US$29.468 billion.

Yet, prices are expected to stabilize, due to various positive factors. Specifically, with Micron's acquisition of Elpida, the global DRAM market will turn into an oligopoly, divided into three powerhouses namely Samsung, Micron and Hynix. This is expected to help bring up prices, DRAMeXchange said.

The firm forecasts that this year the average sale price of the 1 GB chip will drop 34.8 percent compared to last year, while shipments are expected to increase 30.4 percent, resulting in total DRAM production of US$25.043 billion, a decline of 15 percent from 2011.

Next year, the 1 GB chip is expected to see the price decline narrow to 19 percent, while shipments are expected to increase by 25 percent. With this, DRAM production value for 2013 is expected to reach US$25.341 billion, a rise of 1.2 percent from this year.

According to DRAMeXchange, future DRAM battles will be fought in the server and mobile device segments. Taiwan manufacturers should change their strategy to respond to this trend, the company said.